What is Reportage?

In attempting to answer this question, I took the approach that most start with, a Google search.  The answers were particularly puzzling.  Most, including the dictionary definition refer to reporting an event in some form of broadcast media:

reportage

noun [ U ]   formal

UK  /ˌrep.ɔːˈtɑːʒ/ US  /rɪˈpɔːr.t̬ɪdʒ/

the activity of, or style of, reporting events in newspapers or broadcasting them on television or radio

from the Cambridge English Dictionary [1]

The ambiguity in defining the level of objectivity or subjectivity in photography was not really a surprise, given the work so far in Part 1.  The photographer has the power to tell a story that looks like the truth, but from their point of view.  The concept of inside/outside can grant the photographer a form of credibility which they can use to draw attention to the key elements of the story.  This level of manipulation of the viewer, while very clever and often subtle, still needs the elements in the image to make it work.   In the case of the post-event ‘late’ photography the element of time is removed but the juxtaposition of the subject and background, along with the supporting external narrative tells the story.   Intriguingly, the first image in Project 3 is one where an event isn’t occurring at all.   Edgar Martins’ image [2] is of a large empty room, lit from the opposite end to the viewer by French windows.  The only details in the room itself are the elegant architecture, the wooden floor with leaves strewn across it.

Why is this image considered to be reportage?  The answer as I see it is that it is a document of the room.  The image shows the elegance of the space that is not in a state of decay but appears to be well looked after. The ‘neglect’ in the image comes from the emptiness and the leaves, suggesting that the room has been abandoned, albeit recently.  The image, for me tells a story in one frame but that story has no supporting context to steer the viewer in any way.  When we consider the series that the image came from, we see a story of the collapse of the American economy following the sub-prime mortgage scandal of 2008.  Power messages of houses in a state of decay or being reclaimed by nature make the series a compelling one.  What was shocking was that the photographs were digitally manipulated by Martins without the knowledge of the commissioning body, The New York Times.  In the image we have, close inspection reveals cloning of the leaves on the floor and of the light switches in the wooden panelling [3].  The outrage caused by Martins’ seemingly distorting the truth about the subject was dismissed by the artist as being a misunderstanding [4]

“It is crucial that both the commissioning entity and the photographer can articulate their goals and parameters clearly. In this specific case there was a clear misunderstanding concerning the values and rights associated with the creative process that led a renowned publication like the New York Times Magazine to commission an artist, such as myself, to depict a very specific view of reality without taking all the necessary measures to ensure that I was fully aware of its journalistic parameters and limits.”

What he was saying was that he didn’t appreciate the newspaper’s intention to limit his creativeness to tell a truthful story.  For me, this lack of expectation management reveals how photography itself can be manipulated to suit a single purpose.

When considering the decisive moment, where the events are unfolding in real time, I see a similarity to modern citizen journalism.  Cartier-Bresson was sensitive to all of the elements in the frame as opposed to the subject matter alone, which allowed him to tell the story through a single moment in time.  Optimal placement of the elements, no matter how subtle can tell a much broader story as with the image in the notes.

Bresson’s Dessau shows a Gestapo spy being shown to the crowd she was trying to hide in.  The elements that make up the frame are compelling as they contain multiple expressions of anger and disgust on the faces of the crowd and the woman who is detaining her.  The prisoner has an expression of shame as the person she is brought before reviews her papers.  It’s little wonder that this image told the tale of the turning tide of the war in a single frame.  The Gestapo were a feared Nazi secret police force who were known for turning citizens into spies and informants within the ranks of ordinary people and resistance fighters alike.  The image of one being captured is about as good a piece of propaganda for the allies as there is, but as with all decisive moment imagery, we interpret what happened immediately before and after the shot by the elements in this single snapshot of time.  Objectivity is not really anywhere to be seen.

References

[1] 2020, Unknown author, ‘Dictionary Definition of Reportage’. Cambridge English Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/reportage

[2] Martins, E, 2008, “This is not a House”, Artist website, http://www.edgarmartins.com/work/this-is-not-a-house/?show=photographs

[3] Various, 2009, “Truthy lies: photographers speak out on Edgar Martins”, Critical Terrain Blog Post, https://criticalterrain.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/truthy-lies-photographers-speak-out-on-edgar-martins/

[4] Beesley, R, 2012, “This is not a House”, Aesthetica Magazine, https://aestheticamagazine.com/this-is-not-a-house/